


The Bear and the Flower

by TheBrokeZane



Category: The Flash (TV 2014)
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-04-18
Updated: 2015-05-23
Packaged: 2018-03-23 15:18:04
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 4
Words: 20,994
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3773113
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TheBrokeZane/pseuds/TheBrokeZane
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Slight AU Westallen fic. Iris decides she wants to have a sleepover with her best friend, Barry since she missed him so much during the coma. She realizes that she missed something else as well.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Hello everyone. This is just a quick little fic that I started working on. I think this will be 2 or 3 parts. I'm not really sure yet. Some things have changed and some have remained the same. You'll see when you read. 
> 
> Thank you for reading. I hope you enjoy. Kudos and comments are hugs! :)

\--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Iris was missing her best friend. Missing him terribly. She had been missing him for almost a year. He got struck by lightning and was in a coma for 9 months. Those were the hardest 9 months of her life. She really thought she'd lose her best friend. When he woke up from the coma, she realized even more so just how important he is to her. So she felt like they needed to get back to spending the kind of time they used to spend together. Just the two of them. She decided on a sleepover like old times.

Iris was a sleepover kind of girl. The only thing is her sleepovers always seemed to consist of just her and Barry. It didn't seem weird to her that her best friend was a boy. A boy who just happened to live with her. Although Iris was outgoing, bubbly, and just fun to be around, she didn't have many female friends. Her life just seemed to revolve around her dad, Joe and her bestest friend, Barry. Well, Bear as she called him. She sometimes called him Bartholomew just to make him mad. He would then call her Flower.

Though Iris didn't exactly hate it when he called her Flower, he didn't exactly like being called Bartholomew. It reminded him too much of his childhood when he would get picked on about his name. Though he knew that Iris wasn't being malicious or hurtful when she called him that, he still didn't particularly care for his given name. He was also glad that his nickname was Barry instead of Bart. He got his fair share of being called "Bart Simpson" while he and Iris were going to elementary and middle school.

The sudden urge to have a sleepover with her best friend seemed to hit Iris out of nowhere. She and Barry hadn't had a sleepover in years and she really wanted to do that with him. She reverted back to thinking about the time they spent apart when she thought he would either die or remain in a coma forever. She again thought about the hardest thing she ever lived through. Those 9 months seemed like an eternity. Those were the worst 9 months of her life. She really thought she'd lose her Bear. Her life would not seem right without him in it.

Sure they were now grown, and Barry had since moved out of the house. But Iris wanted to have a sleepover with her best friend. It seemed fitting. They could stay up all night talking like they sometimes did. Maybe even a pillow fight. They wouldn't have to sneak liquor from the cabinet downstairs. They could do what they wanted.

So, Iris felt the need to spring her sleepover idea on Barry. She decided to mention it to him when he stopped past Jitters. He always came past Jitters even if he didn't get coffee. Barry would take any excuse to see Iris. He was her best bud and she his. Her best bud that got struck by lightning and almost died. He actually did die. She saw it with her own eyes. She shook that image from her mind just as Barry was walking in.

"Hey! I was just thinking about you." Iris says as she puts the almost full pot of coffee back.

"Hey. You were?" Barry asks and hopes he doesn't sound as hopeful as he feels. He would love to tell her how he feels about her but is afraid it will ruin everything.

Iris turns and smiles. That huge, beautiful smile that sometimes makes Barry forget to breathe. "Yeah. I was just thinking about you, and me. And how we should have a sleepover. You know, like we used to?" Iris says happily.

"A sleepover? Iris, we're 25." Barry says though he'd be happy to have a sleepover with Iris. He'd be happy to have more, but a sleepover with his best friend and love of his life will do.

Iris' huge smile never leaves her face. "So? We're 25 now, so what? You're never too old to have a sleepover with your best friend. And we can actually drink out in the open and not have to sneak it from Joe." She says and grins a little mischeviously.

Barry smiled and raised an eyebrow at her antics. "Are you suggesting we have a drunken sleepover, Iris?" He asks and then smiles. He's totally up for having a sleepover with her. The fact that he couldn't get drunk was irrelevant. He knew Iris wouldn't get drunk either. She would have a few drinks and then call it quits.

Iris smiled at him again. "Not necessarily a drunken sleepover, but we can do a little drinking. I can make Grandma Esther's famous egg nog. Light on the bourbon." She says and then winks. "It is almost Christmas time. We're just celebrating a little early this year."

Barry lightly chuckles. "Ok, I'm game. Sleepover it is. I have no plans. When do you want to do this?" He casually asks while trying to mask his excitement.

Iris smiled her killer smile again. Barry felt his heart flutter. "Great. Tonight. It is Friday night. You know our sleepovers start on Friday nights."

"Yeah, I know. But I lived at the house then. We never had to make plans for a sleepover back then." Barry says.

"You're right, but now we do. You know you're always welcome at the house. I don't know why you moved out anyway." Iris states.

Barry just shrugged. "I figured Joe had taken me in long enough. That's all."

"Well, you're kind of stuck with us Barry. You're an honorary West." Iris says and laughs.

"Barry West? That doesn't even have a nice ring to it." He says and smiles. He tried not to get uncomfortable about thinking that Iris thought of him as her brother. He didn't have brotherly thoughts about her. He did look at Joe as a father figure, however. That didn't seem weird to him because in the back of his hopeful and dreamy mind, Joe would become his father in law.

Iris thinks about it for a moment. "Yes it does." She teases.

"How about Iris Allen? Try that on for size since you just tried to change my last name." Barry throws out just to see what she says.

"I could never go by Iris Allen. I couldn't get rid of West that easily. My Dad would probably demand that I hyphenate my name when I get married. Iris West Allen maybe." Iris says and smiles. "But why would I need to change my last name to Allen?" She wonders.

Barry becomes slightly flustered. He tries to hide his awkwardness and embarrassment by shrugging again. "I don't know. Maybe you'll marry a man with the last name Allen."

Iris again thinks for a moment. "It's possible. How weird would that be if we ended up with the same last name?" She lightly jokes and smiles.

Barry felt his heart flutter again. "Yeah. Weird." He says and masked his sorrow with a smile.

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Later on that day, Barry ran into Joe at the station. Well, not exactly ran into him. Joe came up to his crime lab. He decided to fill him in on his and Iris' plans to have a sleepover. He hoped that Joe wouldn't read too much into it considering he knows how Barry feels about Iris. Then he figured that Joe wouldn't think that at all. He knew and trusted Barry still even after knowing his feelings for his daughter. The mere fact that Barry thought he was hiding how he felt about Iris was purely comical to Joe. Barry really made himself an easy target.

"Hey, Barry. How are things going with the evidence you collected this morning?" Joe asks.

Barry looked up from his microscope. "It's going." He says and then gets up from the table. "Oh, by the way, I'm staying at your house tonight."

"What's wrong with your place?" Joe asks in concern.

"Nothing. It's just that Iris and I are having a sleepover tonight." Barry says and painfully tries to hide his excitement from Joe, but it's no use.

"A sleepover? You two are adults now. Or is this an adult sleepover? I would hate to have to go Floyd Mayweather on you." Joe jokes.

Barry being Barry becomes flustered. "What? An adult sleepover? No way, Joe. Why would Iris and I have an adult sleepover? This was Iris' idea. I'm just going along with it." He rambles and hopes that calms the waters.

Joe laughed heartily. "It was Iris' idea and you're just going along with it, huh?" He says as he eyes Barry with much skepticism.

Still flustered, Barry just looks at Joe and the look he's giving him. "What?" He asks as he feigns ignorance and hopes that Joe will just leave him be.

Joe laughs again. "She has you so wide open, you can barely see straight."

"I can see just fine. I have super powers, remember?" Barry asks to change the subject once and for all.

"You have super speed, not super eyesight." Joe teases.

"Duly noted." Barry says. "Are you done teasing me yet?" He wonders.

"No, not yet. Did you decide that tonight is the night you're going to tell her?" Joe questions as he leans on the table behind him and folds his arms.

"I thought you didn't want me to tell her." Barry says as he folds his arms to match Joe's stance.

"I don't want you to tell her you're The Flash. I'm talking about you telling her that you love her and want to make her last name Allen."

Barry again becomes flustered. Even more so than before. He scoffed and shook his head. He then laughed at the irony because of his earlier conversation with Iris. "What?" He asks to buy himself some time.

Joe looks at Barry like he's grown three heads. "What? What's so funny about what I said? You do want to make her last name Allen." Joe states surely.

Barry laughed more. "It's just funny because Iris and I talked about that earlier." He replies.

"You talked about what earlier? You already told her? I'm dying to hear what she said to that."

"No, I didn't tell her. We were just kidding around and she told me I was an honorary West. Then I told her that Barry West doesn't have a nice ring to it, but she disagreed. I jokingly asked her how would she like it if I called her Iris Allen." Barry states almost nervously.

Joe laughed yet again. "You just had to ask her how she would feel about her last name being Allen, huh? I guess I should start saving up for the wedding."

Barry scoffed again. More like cringed. "There will be no wedding. She asked me why would she change her last name to Allen. She then said she thought it would be weird if we had the same name. It's not happening, Joe." He says a little sadly.

Joe didn't laugh this time. "Barry, when the universe wants to make something happen, whether it be giving a boy lightning speed or putting two people together, it has a way of figuring it out." He says to ease Barry's pain. He moves from the table and goes to give Barry a hug. "I'll see you at home later." Joe says and goes to leave Barry's crime lab.

\--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

After finishing up in his lab, Barry sped home and got what he needed for his sleepover with Iris. He also stopped and got her some brownies on the way. He smiled to himself just thinking of the many, many brownies he has seen her consume over the years. He arrived at the house in lightning speed. Iris was in the kitchen when he came in. "I'm here." Barry called as he dropped his duffel bag on the floor near the front door.

Iris came from the kitchen to greet him. She saw the bag in his hand. "You didn't have to bring anything."

"I know that, but I wanted to. Here." He says as he hands the bag to her.

Iris peeked in the bag and saw her favorite brownies and her face lit up. "You brought me brownies. Thanks, Bear."

Barry smiled at her. "I had to. Your brownie obsession isn't going anywhere." He jokes.

"No, it isn't." She jokes. "Well, I was thinking we'd move the furniture around and sleep down here. We can sip Grandma Esther's egg nog in front of the fire-place. I'll help you as soon as I come from taking these to the kitchen." Iris says as she holds up her container of brownies and goes to the kitchen. Barry watched her walk away and felt a little pang in his chest. His love for Iris was starting to consume him. If he wasn't such a coward, he would get it off his chest. His fear of rejection and losing her is starting to get the best of him. He just goes to sit on the couch and tries to put his disastrous love life out of his mind.

Barry then hopped up and got started on moving the furniture and had most of it out of the way before Iris came back. She came out with two mugs of eggnog for her and Barry. She looked startled to see that he had done so much in the short time she was back in the kitchen. She looked around and then looked at Barry. "Dude. What the hell? How did you do this while I was gone?" Iris wonders as she looks around.

"Dude? What? I just moved the couch and the tables. It's no big deal. Maybe I'm just eager to start our sleepover." He says and hunches his shoulders.

"Well, you're right. You'll have to get the blankets and the sleeping bags from the closet. Did you remember to bring your jammies?" Iris asks in childlike wonderment as she smiles and hands him his mug of eggnog.

"Thanks. Of course I brought my jammies. I brought the ones with the feet in them." Barry jokes as he takes a sip before placing his mug down on the table and walks over to the closet.

Iris just laughs as she watches Barry get the things from the closet. She smiled just thinking of the fun she was sure to have with her best friend. "So, what are we going to do tonight?" She asks in excitement. "Netflix? Scary stories? Roasting marshmallows? Cards? A pillow fight? Take your pick."

Barry had the fleeting thought that they wouldn't do any of that. He imagined kissing Iris after confessing his love to her. Then revealing that he's The Flash and swearing her to secrecy. He knew that wasn't going to happen, but he still imagined that it would. It would make all his dreams come true. Well, his mother would still be alive and his father wouldn't be in jail, but that's his main wish. "I say we do all 5. We have the entire night. We can stay up talking all night like old times." Barry says as he throws the sleeping bags and blankets to the center of the floor.

"You're on, Mr. Allen." Iris says. "Just as soon as we change into our sleepover gear. I'll be right back." She places her mug on the table and heads up the stairs. Iris stops on the step and looks back at Barry. "You are so going down when we have that pillow fight."

Barry grinned. "I seriously doubt that, Flower." He says.

"Are you sure about that, Bartholomew?" Iris asks as she grins as well and raises her eyebrow at him.

"Really? You just had to call me Bartholomew, didn't you?" Barry asks.

"Yes. I know you hate being called Bartholomew. You called me Flower." Iris says and laughs.

"Flower is nowhere near as bad as Bartholomew. Flowers are pretty, they smell nice, and they make people happy..." Barry rambles on and then pauses when he realizes he has probably said too much.

Iris raised her eyebrow at him again. She felt a little flutter in her chest from Barry's last statement. She didn't know what that was about. "Are you saying I'm pretty, I smell nice, and make people happy?" Iris asks playfully. It seemed like the air changed between her and Barry.

"Of course not. You're ugly, you smell and you make me sick." Barry jokes. He in no way, shape, or form thought that about Iris.

"Oh, really?" Iris asks as she starts to walk down the stairs towards him.

"Yes, really." Barry says as he playfully holds his nose.

Iris grabbed one of the pillows from the couch and swung it at Barry, hitting him. "Take it back." Iris jokes.

"Never." Barry laughs and Iris hits him again with the pillow.

Iris started to swing the pillow and hit him harder with it. "I. Said. Take. It. Back!" She yells and hits him harder. Barry just playfully laughed and got a pillow of his own.

"I'm never taking it back." Barry states as he lightly swings his pillow at Iris. They really got into the groove of having their pillow fight. They were having fun and laughing like they did when they were kids.

Iris completely wore herself out from the pillow fight. Barry, however was fine. He did have super powers afterall. He wasn't even giving it a real fight like he would have before he was struck by lightning and became The Flash. Iris stopped hitting Barry for a moment. She was desperately trying to catch her breath while laughing at the same time. "Ok, Bear. I need a breather. It seems like it's getting harder to beat you at this." Iris says. She dropped her pillow to the floor and just stood there.

Barry laughed at her antics. "Take all the time you need. It won't help you beat me at all. Just so you know."

Iris let out one final breath after getting her bearings. "You're right. Maybe I'm getting too old to beat you. You're not the same scrawny little guy any more." Iris says and smiles widely at him.

"Have you ever stopped to think that all those times you beat me were because I let you beat me?" Barry wonders.

"Nope. So you're seriously trying to say that you let me win when my Dad was teaching you to fight? If my memory serves me correctly, you ended up on the ground." Iris teases in a playful manner.

"I only ended up on the ground because I can't hit a girl." Barry says to his defense.

"I know you can't hit a girl, but that's not it. I'm a master with those gloves on. Even without them. Ask The Flash. I totally knocked out Tony with a sonic punch." Iris boasts and smiles at Barry again.

He got a little warm on the inside at her mentioning his alter ego. He didn't have to ask The Flash anything, because he's him and saw it with his own eyes. He smiled thinking of the punch she gave to Tony. She is totally right. She's a master with or without the gloves. "Nah, I don't think that happened. I know you said you almost broke your hand, but I don't believe it."

Iris smiled and raised her eyebrow at him yet again. "Oh, really?" She asks before she startles Barry by giving him some surprise blows to his abdomen. Iris didn't hit him hard, but she hit him hard enough to knock him on his ass. She noticed that his shirt flew up when he landed on the floor and she noticed something she had never seen before.

Barry had abs.

What the hell? Iris thought. "Um, when did that happen?" She asks in total surprise.

Barry feigns ignorance. He got up from the floor. "What?" He asks quizzically.

Iris looked at him with a skeptic look plastered on her face. She reached forward and lifted his shirt. "That." She says as she points to his abdomen.

Barry decided to jokingly tell her the truth. "Oh, that. I had them after I woke up from the coma." He says and smiles.

"So, being in a coma gave you abs?" Iris asks though it sounds completely ridiculous.

"No, being struck by lightning did." Barry jokes again.

Iris looks at him weirdly. "Lightning gave you abs?" She wonders incredulously.

"Yeah, it's pretty cool isn't it?" He asks and smiles.

"Lightning gave you abs?" Iris questions again. She's seriously trying to wrap her mind around something so ridiculous.

She's also trying to wrap her mind around suddenly thinking that Barry was now hot to her. He had always been cute, adorable, and good-looking to her, but never hot like she was thinking that he now is.

Why am I thinking that Barry is hot? What changed? Is it because he has abs? Has Barry always been hot and I'm just now noticing? Iris questions herself.

She felt that flutter again.

Iris looked Barry up and down. Barry was wondering what had gotten into Iris. He knows her seeing that he has abs now threw her for a loop, but she seems totally out of it.

"Lightning made Barry hot." Iris says out loud, though she didn't mean to. She quickly caught herself and looked at the expression on Barry's face.


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for the positive feedback. Thank you for reading. I hope you enjoy.

Iris immediately clamped her lips shut. She never intended to say, "Lightning made Barry hot" out loud. It was a serious slip of the tongue. Not only that, she was clearly either losing her mind or suddenly stricken with Tourette's syndrome. She just said out loud that Barry was hot. And he heard her. Why am I thinking that Barry is hot? He's...like...my...I can't even form the words! He's my adorably cute and nerdy best friend. Now I'm thinking that he's my hot, still nerdy, and buff best friend. When did nerds get abs? Why does this nerd, Bartholomew, even his name is nerdy! Barry Allen have abs? What the hell is going on?

 

Barry continued to stare at Iris and really wonder what was wrong with her though he was happy as hell that she just blurted out that he's hot. He never thought anyone, let alone Iris, would consider him hot. And she just said it. Lightning made him hot. Lightning made himsomething else, but that really isn't the point at this moment in time. He decided to approach her carefully, because he didn't know how else to. "Iris, are you ok?" He asks, and tries to decide before she answers what he would like for her answer to be. If she just says she was joking, he might have to cut their sleepover short and head home. Even though he's the fastest man alive, going from 0 to 60 with his feelings of Iris thinking he's hot, might really take a toll on him.

 

"What?" Iris asks through her confusion.

 

"I asked if you were ok. Are you?" Barry asks again in concern.

 

"I'm great." Iris lies, still thinking that the most adorable nerd she knew just became the hottest nerd she knew.

 

"Great. Me too." Barry says with much enthusiasm. "So...you...uh...think...I'm ...uh...hot?" He asks through his awkward excitement.

 

Iris looks right at him and opened her mouth to respond. Suddenly, Joe walks through the door. "Hey, you two." He says and immediately gets a whiff of the tension in the air. Something he has felt between Iris and Barry before since they grew up together in the same house. But this tension feels different. Does he dare think it's sexual tension? Sexual tension between Barry and Iris?

 

"Hey, Joe." Barry says as he looks over at Joe and smiles.

 

"Hey, Dad. I need a drink." Iris says before she disappears into the kitchen.

 

Joe looked on in confusion before looking back at Barry. "What's with her? What's with you two?" He fires as he walks further into the house.

 

"Nothing. Why do you ask?" Barry asks as he becomes flustered. He feels like he did when he was younger and Joe would come home and give him and Iris that look. The same look he's giving him now.

 

"Why do I ask? I come in here and I can feel the tension between you and Iris. She's acting strange, and so are you. What happened? Did you tell her how you feel?" Joe questions rapidly.

 

"I always act strange." Barry replies to sort of change the subject.

 

"Well, you're acting strange-er. And then Iris is acting strange too. So again I ask, what happened? Did you tell her how you feel about her?" He asks again(n.

 

"No, I didn't tell her. We just had a pillow fight, that's all." Barry says and hopes that's enough to ward Joe off before the night is completely ruined.

 

"Pillow fight? Really? You two had a pillow fight? That's why things seem so strange between you and Iris? And then she runs off needing a drink." Joe says and stares at Barry and the woeful expression planted on his face. Iris comes out of the kitchen and heads straight for the stairs. She doesn't even acknowledge Barry or Joe. "Iris? Are you ok?" Joe wonders in concern for his daughter.

 

Iris didn't even stop on the stairs. "I'm fine, Dad." She says as she retreats to her room.

 

Joe gives Barry another look and he just shrugs and smiles awkwardly. "You still wanna tell me that nothing is going on with you two?"

 

"Nothing is wrong, Joe. I promise." Barry says, hoping that what he's saying is true.

 

"Alright. Well, I'm going on up to my room. You two enjoy your sleepover." Joe says as he heads up the stairs. "And Barry?" Joe calls as he slightly pauses.

 

"Yeah, Joe?" Barry asks in wonderment.

 

"Don't make me go Floyd Mayweather on you." Joe says as he continues up the stairs.

 

Iris retreated to her bedroom and closed the door. She was feeling 100 shades of confused. She was still thinking that Barry was hot. Suddenly hot. And then he gives her a bullshit story about waking up from the coma and having abs. Like he was working out and doing crunches while in a coma. Sure they moved his limbs and things, but he didn't get a full on work out like he would need to to suddenly have abs of steel. Maybe Barry had already been working out and she just never noticed before. Did Barry's hotness really just fly under her radar like that? Was Barry always this hot and she's just now noticing? She started having impure thoughts and wondering if anything else had changed. Did Barry go from a lanky, 6 foot 2 nerd to a buff, 6 foot 2 stud? With abs?

 

"This is madness." Iris says out loud. She wasn't supposed to think that way about her longtime best friend.

 

Or could she?

 

She started wondering how they would have that damn sleepover now with her holed up in her room thinking about Barry's hotness. She went to sit on her bed. She only sat there for a moment before she started to feel silly for acting the way that she is. She just brushed it off and stood and went over to her dresser. She decided to find her pajamas to put on and head back downstairs. She was forgetting the overall purpose for their sleepover. She wanted to reconnect with her best friend. talk about things. She had something really important to tell him anyway, and wanted his advice on it.

 

She pulled out her favorite pair of pajamas, which miraculously Barry had given her one Christmas. They were her favorite color green, made of some ridiculously soft material that was extremely close to cashmere. She loved the color green they were and loved the lighter green heart design. She loved those pajamas and loved Barry for giving them to her.

 

Her best friend.

 

Yeah, she loved him. Loved him almost as much as she loves her father. The adorable nerd she met in elementary school that became her surrogate brother when they moved in. They didn't grow up as brother and sister though. Joe considered Barry his kid, but it was hard not to. The boy had essentially lost both his parents. Iris lost her mother too so she and Barry bonded over that. That and their love for their father's. Barry never once thought that his father actually killed his mother. Iris didn't either. He loved Iris for believing him and in him. She believed him when he said what he saw and that wasn't his father. So Barry went from being just her best friend to her pseudo sibling. Though no one could really call them siblings. They weren't even the same race for crying out loud. She knew all his quirks, and he hers. They knew everything they possibly could about each other.

 

So why didn't she know that Barry had abs and was hot? She shook that away again as she put her pajamas on. She suddenly wondered what Barry was doing.

 

Barry felt like a oddling over what just occurred between him and Iris. She blurted out that lightning made him hot. Iris said he was hot. Then she started acting weird and ran off. He didn't know what to do. He went and sat on the sofa for a moment and wondered how they would get back on track. He thought about that and leaving. He didn't want to make the night more awkward. Maybe Iris just needed some space. He got up to go and tell her that he was leaving. He knew he had to really take the steps and not fly up them like he usually would. He didn't want to chance Iris finding out the wrong way. And then Joe would kill him.

 

He started up the stairs as Iris was coming down them. "Oh." Iris says in a semi startled voice as she just stops on the step.

 

"Sorry, I didn't mean to scare you." Barry says as he stops on the step as well. They both just kind of stand there awkwardly and look at each other. After an awkward and tense silence, Barry finally spoke. "Uh, I should go." He says as he turns on the step and makes his way back down.

 

Iris looks puzzled and is. She wondered why he said he should go. "Huh? Go? Why?" She asks as she starts to make her way down the stairs behind him.

 

"Uh...I thought that's what you wanted since you just ran off. I was coming up to tell you I was leaving." Barry states as he looks at the absolute most beautiful thing he has ever laid eyes on.

 

"No, I don't want you to go. We're having a sleepover, silly Bear." Iris jokes to take away some of the weird air and tension between her and him.

 

"I just thought..." Barry begins.

 

"You just thought what, silly Bear? Our night hasn't even really started yet. We've only had our pillow fight. We still have much to do." Iris talks rapidly to try to change the subject. She didn't want to keep focusing on Barry. And her weird thoughts about him. They needed to have their sleepover and put their weird and awkward pillow fight behind them. Netflix really had to come through for her now. She needed it to.

 

Barry looks at her a little strangely, but he gets it. "Ok. So since you've changed, I guess I will too." He says as he walks over to the front door to get his duffel bag.

 

"Great! I can finally eat some of those brownies you brought me." Iris exclaims in excitement.

 

Barry grabbed his bag and slung it on his shoulder. Iris couldn't help but notice that his arms seemed to form a bicep when he did that. Barry has muscles too? What. The. Hell. Iris thought. She got a little lost in staring at him and he noticed. He was glad he noticed. "I'll be right back." He says and heads for the stairs.

 

"I'll be waiting." Iris says in a chipper tone and plants her award-winning smile on her face.

 

Barry makes his way to the bathroom to change into some sweats and a S.T.A.R. labs tee-shirt. He hopes that the awkwardness between him and Iris will go away once they really settle for the night. He's used to being awkward around her, but now that she's acting weird and awkward too, it just seems like too much. He finished up and headed back downstairs with his duffel bag in tow. Iris was still standing in the same spot he left her.

 

Iris took in the S.T.A.R. labs tee-shirt Barry was wearing and wished that he had put something else on. Something like some huge old man flannel pajamas or an actual set of pajamas with the feet in them. One of his sweaters or blazers, ANYTHING but what he was wearing at the moment. The tee-shirt really showed how defined his arms had become. On top of the abs. How did I miss Barry becoming this hot? How did that happen? Why am I thinking about how hot Barry is now? What is going on? Iris questioned herself. She just stared at Barry. She couldn't take her eyes off him for some reason.

 

Barry just stood there sort of awkwardly and looked at Iris. His best friend and the love of his life. Only she didn't know she is. Now she's looking at his with a weird expression on her face. He seriously has to wonder why. He now thinks that it has nothing to do with what she blurted out a little while ago. "Iris?" Barry says and he gets no response from her. "Iris!" He says a little louder this time and finally gets her attention.

 

"Yes, Bear?" She asks. She shook the confusion from her head and smiled at him. "Nice shirt."

 

Barry unconsciously looked down at it and put his duffel bag down. Iris watched at his biceps formed again. She unconsciously licked her lips. Barry stared at her lips. The prettiest lips he had ever laid eyes on. They were full and seemed to be in a bow shape. He started to feel warm when he thought of kissing her full, bow-shaped lips. "Thanks. I got it from S.T.A.R. labs." He says and smiles.

 

"I can see that." Iris says. She felt her heart flutter. "It looks good on you."

 

She didn't mean to say that part.

 

"Thanks."

 

"Did lightning give you muscles too?" Iris wonders.

 

Barry smiled. "No, I ve always had these." He responds.

 

"No you didn't. You were never this hot." Iris states impassively.

 

She didn't mean to say that part either.

 

Barry smiled again and internally cheered. "You think I'm hot?" He asks a little skeptically. He hopes she isn't setting him up for a huge joke. That might crush him.

 

"Did I say that out loud?" Iris asks, though she knows she did.

 

"Yeah, you did." Barry replies and walks toward her.

 

"Sorry." Iris counters a little awkwardly.

 

"Why are you apologizing?" Barry ponders, hoping that what she says won't break his heart.

 

"I'm sorry for suddenly having foot in mouth syndrome. I'm making things weird between us." She says to apologize.

 

"You're not making things weird between us." Barry says as she steps closer to her.

 

Iris' heart rate started to pick up. Barry's did as well. Truthfully, his heartbeat always sped up around Iris. The lightning that struck him made that happen too, but right now this was all Iris. He finally comes to a full stop right in front of her. "Are you sure? Because this feels weird. I'm not used to this." She says.

 

Barry smiled down at her. "Close your eyes."

 

"What? Why?" Iris asks.

 

Barry lightly chuckles. "Close your eyes."

 

Iris reluctantly closed her eyes. Barry bent down a little to give her a hug. He embraced her tightly and pulled her body close to his. He wrapped his arms around her and felt her sort of collapse into his arms. When her body pressed to his, she felt a minor jolt. She placed her head on his chest and felt his heart racing. HIs heartbeat matched hers perfectly. It was beating the same way it was when he walked into Jitters after waking up from his coma. That time she pressed her hand to his chest, now it was her face. It was the most comforting hug she had ever received from Barry. And she has hugged Barry more times than she could count. She and Bear were huggers. She became aware of how good it felt being in his arms. How strong they felt.

 

She wrapped her arms around him and locked her fingers behind his back. She exhaled and continued to keep her eyes closed. "Oh, Bear." Iris says as she snuggled deeper into his arms. "You're my Bear." She says, though it slightly sounds like a moan.

 

"I like it when you call me Bear." He admits truthfully.

 

"I like it when you call me Flower." Iris confesses.

 

"You're my Flower." He says. And then after a brief moment. "Does this feel weird?" Barry asks. He never wanted to let her go.

 

"No. This doesn't feel weird at all." Iris answers.

 

"See? I told you that you weren't making things weird between us." Barry says and discreetly inhaled her scent. She smelled lovely. She always did.

 

He isn't...is he? Oh, wow, he is. Iris thought to herself as she continued to hug Barry. "But you are, Bear." Iris says.

 

He continued to savor the hug. "I am what?" He asks in confusion.

 

"You're making things weird between us." Iris states.

 

"How?" He wondered.

 

Iris gently pulled away from him and stared at him for a moment. She pointed to his erection. "That."


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I apologize for the delay. Technical difficulties got in the way. Praying my laptop is fixed soon, so that updates are more frequent.
> 
> Thank you for reading and I hope you enjoy. Kudos are hugs! :)

To say Barry is embarrassed is putting it mildly. He's more along the lines of horrified. He seriously didn't mean to get aroused while hugging Iris. It just happened. He certainly didn't expect for her to notice. He'd be lying if he said he hasn't gotten Iris induced erections through the years. He was starting to go through puberty when he first moved in with her and Joe. At that age, anything could cost him to have one. He had always had a crush on Iris. Moving in with the girl he had a crush on proved hard for him. Then he fell deeper and deeper in love with her since then. Before he even knew what love was, he loved Iris. As much more than just his best friend and the girl whose father took him in. He had visions of marrying her one day and Joe really being his father. Well, father in law. Joe knew how he felt about Iris and never once sent Barry away. He could have. He had a boy that wasn't his son living in his house with his daughter and he just happened to be in love with her. It really showed the kind of man that Joe is to trust Barry alone in his house with Iris. Now Barry wondered if that would change if he knew what was going on in his living room at the moment.

Iris just continued to stare at Barry. He reluctantly looked down to what she was pointing at and cringed. He looked back at her and forced himself to have eye contact with her. He found it hard and disrespectful to look her in her eyes when that just happened. "I'm sorry, Iris." He knew that he was probably as red as his suit from embarrassment. Iris wasn't supposed to know she turned him on in that way.

"Now I must ask you, why are you apologizing?" She inquires as she looks at the utter look of embarrassment on Barry's face. She has seen that face before. Barry has had plenty of embarrassing moments in his lifetime that Iris was witness to.

Barry lightly cringed again. "I'm sorry for getting...a...aroused while we were hugging. I didn't mean to."

Iris looked at him and wondered what the deal was. Why he was getting aroused when he hugged her and why he was now apologizing for it? Also saying that he didn't mean to. She knows the way things work and sometimes men have no control over when that happens. She somehow doesn't think that's the case. She thinks he did mean to get aroused and was embarrassed that she noticed. But why would Barry get an erection while hugging her? "Are you sure you didn't mean to, Bear?" Iris questions.

He again becomes flustered. "What? No, I didn't mean to. I mean, what? Why would I mean to have an erection while I'm hugging you? You're my best friend."

Iris decides to let it go. She figures she has put him on the spot long enough. "Ok, Bear. I get it." She says once she finally releases him from their hug. "So, are you ready to finally start our sleepover? I've got a few things to tell you. I can dish while we watch a movie."

"Sure. Are you making popcorn?" Barry asks to change the subject. He's greatly relieved that they got through that embarrassing moment unscarred. He needed the distraction anyway. He's really glad that Iris didn't make a big deal out of what just happened.

"Of course I'm making popcorn. What's Netflix without popcorn? Plus I have my brownies, thanks to you." Iris says and smiles before turning to head into the kitchen.

Barry follows closely behind. He silently thanked Iris for not making a big deal out of what happened and for his unwelcomed reaction to hugging her going away. "I hope you do have more than just popcorn and brownies for our Netflix and sleepover session."

"Of course I don't, silly Bear." She replies and smiles. "Just kidding. I was going to order us a pizza. Unless you want something else instead."

"Make it pizzas and we have a deal." Barry says and smiles.

Iris returned Barry's smile. "You have yourself a deal, Mr. Allen." She replies before getting her phone and placing the order. She then gets to making the popcorn. Barry just kind of stood there and watched her. He knew he should be helping and not watching her, but somehow he couldn't. He was already in love with her but was now looking at her with more longing at her calling him hot. He knew that she thought he was cute and loved him for being her best friend forever, but hearing that she thought he was hot changed something in him. He started thinking, hoping that somewhere in the future they could actually get together like he wished.

Iris felt Barry staring at her. She felt the air change between them. Hell it changed when they hugged and that happened. Now they weren't even touching, and she became aware of the difference between how she felt around Barry now. She wondered what it was that changed things between them. He was still her best friend in the whole world, but things were different between her and her best bud, Bear. Bear was hot now. She figured he always was hot, she just now noticed it. He was still the most amazing guy she knew. Now he was hot to her. He got aroused when he hugged her. She felt a jolt when they hugged. She started thinking that maybe she and Barry had reached an impass. She needed to make sense of what was going on between them. Iris turned to look at Barry. He looked the same, but different. She again felt weird. "Why are you just standing there? You're not going to help?" Iris asks playfully.

"Sorry. I just got a little lost in thought." Barry replies as he walks up to her and stands dangerously close to her.

Iris playfully nudged him and felt that jolt again. She needed to change the atmosphere. "So, I kinda have a few things to tell you."

"I'm all ears." Barry says and smiles. He playfully nudged her back.

"Promise not to judge me?" Iris asks in a childlike voice. She knew he wouldn't. Barry would never judge her harshly.

"Do you even have to ask me that?" He responds.

Iris suddenly got nervous. Her hand shook a little after she grabbed the bag of popcorn. She walked over to the microwave and put the first bag in. As soon as she closed the door and pressed the buttons, she started to speak. "My Dad's partner, Detective Pretty Boy asked me out." Iris says and immediately felt different after saying it out loud.

Barry cringed though he didn't mean to. Maybe he did. Hearing that a guy he works with asked Iris out is unsettling him. Barry didn't want to talk about this. He really didn't. But he had to be the supportive best friend. "And what did you say?" He reluctantly asked.

She had to force herself to turn and look at Barry. Iris awkwardly smiled. "I said yes."

Barry cringed again, though he really didn't mean to. He cursed to himself. So close. Iris noticed the cringe and it made her feel uneasy. He didn't know what to say. He didn't know if he wanted to lie and tell her that it's a good idea, or tell her the truth. His truth. That he loved her and didn't want her to go out on a date with a guy he works with. That's Joe's partner. He wanted her to himself. But he knew he couldn't be that selfish. "That's great." Barry says flatly, though he wanted it to sound upbeat and encouraging.

Iris looked at him strangely. She raised an eyebrow. She knew he was lying. But why? "Really?" She wondered.

Barry felt his heart sink. "Yeah. That's really great." He lies.

Iris studied his face for a moment. She knew Barry better than anyone. She knew he was lying. "Why are you lying to me, Bear?"

Barry becomes flustered. "What? I'm not lying to you." He actually lies about lying.

Iris walked forward. "Bartholomew Allen. I know you better than anyone. And I know you're lying to me. Why?"

"You're back to calling me Bartholomew?" Barry says to change the subject.

Iris picks right up on it. "Don't try to change the subject, Bartholomew. Why are you lying? Especially to me. You don't think I know when you're lying? We grew up a room away from each other. I know when you're lying, Bear. I just want to know why." Iris says as she looks at him pensively.

Barry exhaled. He intends to tread lightly. The last thing he wanted to do was upset Iris. So instead of telling her how he really feels, he decides to answer her question with a question. "Do you really think dating Joe's partner is a good idea?"

Iris folded her arms in defiance. "Why wouldn't it be?" She wonders as she continues to stare at Barry.

Barry made a face. "Uh...I...I just don't think it's a good idea. I doubt Joe would want to ride around with and work with the guy dating his daughter." He says, hoping he isn't throwing Joe under the bus on that one. He has known Joe long enough to know that he wouldn't like that. Especially since Joe called him "Detective Pretty Boy".

Iris thinks for a moment. "You're probably right. It kinda sucks that I already said yes though." She says and looks at Barry. "That isn't all of it though, Bear. You're still holding something back."

Barry laughs. Well forced himself to laugh. "What? Who, me? I'm not holding anything back." He lies. He is holding something back. Two things actually. That he loves her and that he's The Flash. He didn't know which one was worse or which one would be harder to tell her.

"Yes, you are Bear. What is it? It's not like you to hold something back from me. You are Mr. Blabbermouth, afterall." Iris jokes as the microwave dings. She takes out the popcorn and gets another bag to put in. She gets a bowl for the bag she just took out and poured it into the bowl. Barry reached in and grabbed a huge handfull and literally stuffed it in his mouth.

"I am not Mr. Blabbermouth, Ms. Nosy." Barry jokes.

Iris squints her eyes at him and smiles. "Ms. Nosy? Since when am I nosy?"

"Since forever." Barry says and grabs another handfull of popcorn. He was glad that he successfully changed the subject.

Iris playfully shoved him. "I am not nosy. You are Mr. Blabbermouth though. I don't think there's ever been a time when you haven't spilled the beans on something."

Barry chuckled at the irony. He had a lot of beans to spill that he hasn't yet. Who knows if he ever will. "I do not spill the beans on everything. There are still things about me that you don't know." He says lightheartedly.

Iris became a little suspicious. She thought she knew everything about Barry. "Like what?" She wonders.

That I'm The Flash and I love you. Barry says to himself. He quickly thinks of a little white lie to tell her. He opened his mouth to respond when there's a knock at the door. Barry was glad that he was saved by the bell. "I'll get that." Barry quickly walked towards the front door. He was happy that the pizzas arrived and they could finally get their sleepover started. Hopefully Iris wouldn't ask any more questions. He'd keep his mouth stuffed with pizza and popcorn if he had to.

Barry paid for the pizzas and went to sit them on the table. Iris came out the kitchen moments later with the popcorn and drinks. She instantly locked eyes with Barry and got that flutter that she's been feeling again. Things had definitely become weird between her and Barry. She wondered if it was temporary or would stay that way forever. She needed the weirdness to disappear. "So, are you ready Bear? Do you have any idea of what you'd like to watch?" She asks with a huge smile on her face as she walks toward him.

"I don't know. How about a chick flick? I know you're dying to watch one of those." Barry jokes.

"Very funny, Bartholomew. Just for that, I am going to put a chick flick on. You have yourself to thank for that." Iris says.

"Don't put that on me. You know you want to watch a chick flick and you're just trying to use me as an excuse."

"Whatever, Bear." Iris says and lets it go. She puts the popcorn and drinks down with the pizzas on the table and settles in. She started looking for a movie for them to watch as Barry came and sat beside her without a word. She finally came upon Bride Wars and decided on that since it didn't have the potential to make things even weirder between them. They just started to watch the movie in silence. Iris looked over at Barry. "So, what have you kept from me?" She questions.

"What?" Barry reluctantly asked. He was hoping that Iris would just let it go. He guesses he was wrong.

"I asked you what have you kept from me. I told you everything I was keeping from you. Well, there's one other thing." Iris says as she looks at Barry and starts to feel strange. Maybe because he wasn't that thrilled about Detective Pretty Boy asking her out. She figured he wouldn't be thrilled about this either.

"What other thing?" Barry asks to take the heat off himself and to find out the other thing Iris wanted to tell him. He took a sip of his soda. That was his way of not saying anything and just listening.

"You have to promise not to judge me first." Iris says in the same tone she used before.

Barry stopped drinking to answer her. "I promise." He says and smiles before putting the can back to his mouth.

"I kind of have a crush on The Flash." Iris says and smiles kind of awkwardly. Barry spit out the soda he was drinking at her confession.

"You have a crush on The Flash? Really? How? Why?" Barry asks and then starts to think to himself. Iris has a crush on The Flash? I'm The Flash. Iris has a crush on me? She doesn't know it's me. She doesn't know she has a crush on me. Iris has a crush on me!

"I get the feeling he has a crush on me too." Iris says and smiles, despite Barry acting weird.

"What? Why?" Barry asks again, though he already knows. Of course The Flash has a crush on her. The Flash loves her. He loves her.

"Because he flirts with me. And he said something about 'What other girls?' when I told him he probably said nice things to all the other girls." Iris says with a hint of mischief on her mind, in her voice, and on her face. "I like it when he flirts with me. I think it's the suit. I've had fantasies about him and that suit."

Barry took another sip, which he now knew was an incredibly stupid thing to do since they were discussing his carelessness in flirting with Iris while donning his red suit and mask. He started to violently cough. Iris looked at him in horror. She's having fantasies about me. Me. This feels wrong. It is wrong. Why do I lie to her? Barry thought even as he was literally choking to death. He never expected her to say that. He finally got his coughing under control and Iris was still looking at him in horror.

"Are you ok, Bear?" Iris asks in concern. She didn't think telling Barry that she has a crush on The Flash would make him react in that way. She wondered why he reacted in that way.

"Yeah, I'm ok. Sorry." Barry says, though he really didn't feel like apologizing. He just heard Iris say she has a crush on The Flash. She has a crush on him. The fact that she doesn't know he's The Flash is irrelevant.

"What's with that reaction? That's worse than the one when I told you Detective Pretty Boy asked me out. So, what gives?" Iris asks in wonderement. They have both completely forgotten about the movie. Iris was ready to talk. They had all night to talk. She's been dying to tell Barry this. She had no real female friends to share things like this with.

Barry stalls to think. He can't tell her the real reason. Can he? She's already said that he was hot. She just admitted she has a crush on his alter ego. He decides to just play along. "I'm just a little shocked, that's all." Barry says, and it's actually the truth. He is shocked to hear that from Iris.

"Shocked? Why? That I have a thing for a superhero? What's the big deal?" Iris questions Barry relentlessly.

"There is no big deal Iris." Barry lies. Having her say that she has a crush on him is a very big deal.

"So..." Iris says, then hesitates.

Barry looked at her strangely. "So...what?" He questions. He's really confused as to what Iris is about to ask him.

"Do you think I should tell him?" She asks with uncertainty.

Barry really didn't know how to answer that question. He already knew. Then he felt bad because she just thought she was spilling secrets with her best friend. It felt like betrayal to him. He just sat and pondered on that for a moment. Maybe longer than a moment. It causes Iris to take notice.

She thinks the worst before speaking. "You're judging me." Iris says a little harsher than she intended.

Barry looks at her with sad eyes. "Iris. I'm not judging you. Not at all. It's just weird, that's all." Barry says.

"What's so weird about it? Are you jealous, Bear?" Iris teases.

Barry scoffed. " No, I'm not jealous Flower." He responded truthfully. He seriously struggled with telling her the truth.

Iris looked at Barry and knew there was something he was either keeping from her and wanted to say, or he was weirded out by her telling him she had a crush on The Flash. Iris decided to test the waters. She knew Barry better than anyone, but she was totally bluffing right now. "I know what you're going to say."

"I don't think you do." Barry replies surely. There's no way she knows what he wants to say.

"You think it's weird because we practically grew up in the same house, we're like brother and sister, cause we're not actually brother and sister, it can be really weird and awkward to talk -" Iris began but Barry interrupted her.

"Iris, I do not think of you as my sister. That's just wrong." Barry says and feels like he has said too much.

Iris lightly revolts. "What's so wrong about that?" She questions.

Barry just stares at her. Because I shouldn't have these kinds of feelings for my sister. He smiled despite his agony. "Nothing. Forget I said anything. Can we finish watching the movie?" He asks. He really wants to get off this topic of conversation with her altogether.

Iris just stared at Barry as well. She slightly frowned. "What is going on with you? You're acting strange. And not your normal strange. I mean strange, even for you." She says and to anyone else, it might sound like an insult, but it's not.

"I am not acting strange." Barry lies.

"Yes, you are. What gives? Is it work? I know that there's something going on with you." Iris says. She watched as he just stood and sort of paced the room. Something really seemed to be weighing heavily on him.

Barry walked over to the window and looked out of it. He was thinking that he really should leave. This sleepover isn't turning out the way he hoped. He exhaled out of pure frustration. Iris got up and walked over to the window and stood next to him. She placed her hand on his back and started to rub. "What is it Bear? You know you can tell me anything." Iris says to assure him that even though things had suddenly got weird between them, their bond is still as strong as it's always been.

Barry finally turned his body towards hers and gave her a hug. He closed his eyes and inhaled her scent. He knew he was going to regret this, but he just couldn't hold it in any longer. He took a deep breath. "I love you, Iris." He says after his internal struggle with telling her that.

"Awww, I love you too." Iris says happily as she continued to rub his back while they were hugging.

"But you don't Iris." Barry says to a shocked Iris.

She pulled away from their hug and looked at him in confusion. "What? Why are you talking crazy? You know I love you, Bear." Iris says and smiles to ease his misconception.

It's now or never, Barry thought. "I know you love me as your best friend and I love you too. But you don't love me the way I love you." He says surely and a little quietly.

Iris again looked at him in confusion. "What are you talking about, Barry?"

"I love you Iris. When we were kids I loved you before I even knew what the word "love" meant. And then my mom died, and I had to go live with the girl I had a crush on. Look, there were so many times that I wanted to tell you: junior prom, when I went away to college, when I came back from college, the nights that we stayed up talking, all the birthdays, all the christmases. But I never did, I just- I kept it in. After I lost my mom & my dad, I was afraid that if you didn't feel the same way… I would lose you too. That's the irony, I was so scared of losing you, that I did. I'm sorry."

He felt like saying, "I'm sorry" was the least he could do in the situation. He ruined what he had with the girl he loved before he knew what love meant. He figured he had only loved his parents in his lifetime before he started to love Iris. Loving her seemed natural to him. Like breathing and his heart beating. Like thinking and blinking his eyes. Those things happened involuntarily. He didn't need to think about it. Just like he didn't need to think about loving Iris.

Iris was shocked still by his confession. She had no idea he felt that way about her. None at all. She wondered why he was apologizing and why he felt like he had lost her. "Why are you sorry, Bear?" Iris asks in concern.

"Because I know I've just ruined our friendship. You'll hate me after this." Barry says gravely. He was going to tell her the whole truth. He might as well make losing the love of his life and best friend worth it.

Iris is seriously confused now. She has no idea why Barry thinks that she'll hate him. She could never hate Barry. "I could never hate you, Bear." She responded truthfully. "And you haven't ruined our friendship."

He knew she was just trying to make him feel better. He was about to ruin his relationship with Joe as well. He promised him that he wouldn't tell her, but he can't lie to Iris anymore. He wondered how to tell her. Wondered if he should just tell her. Or zoom around the room in front of her. He didn't want to scare her. Plus Joe was upstairs. "Close your eyes." He says again in the calmest voice he can muster.

"This again?" She playfully asked.

Barry laughs despite his pain. "Yes, this again. It will be different this time. Don't be afraid."

"Ok." Iris says nervously as she closed her eyes.

"Iris West, I hear you have a crush on me." Barry says as The Flash in the voice he uses to talk to her.

Iris opened her eyes in shock. "Barry?"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I was dubbed "The Queen of Cliffhangers" by the other ship I write for, so don't be too mad at me. :)


	4. Chapter 4

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The final chapter. I had to upgrade this to Explicit.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you all for reading. I hope you enjoy this last update to this story. Sorry for the delay!

Iris stared at Barry in shock. She closed her eyes again because they were obviously playing tricks on her. Or maybe it was her ears. Something definitely wasn't right. Maybe she was losing her mind. She had to be because Barry, her Bear just confessed his love to her. And that's only half of it. Then he told her to close her eyes and she heard The Flash's voice. How is that possible? She understood perfectly what happened. Barry, her Bear, is The Flash. Her adorable cute and nerdy suddenly turned hot best friend was now a superhero. How did this happen? Iris wondered to herself.

"Barry?" She repeated again. She really needed her brain to catch up with her eyes. Though she knew what was reality, it was still hard to accept and understand.

"Yes, Iris." Barry says in his regular voice.

"Barry?!" She repeated again for the third time.

"Yes, Flower." He says in the name that only he calls her to ease the sting.

"No! You do not get to call me Flower right now!" Iris says a little angrily and loudly as she tried to pull away from Barry. He suddenly shocked her by increasing his grasp on her. Suddenly she felt like she was flying. When they came to a full stop, she realized they were on the roof of Jitters. "What the hell, Barry?! Or should I say The Flash?" She says in the same angry tone.

"You were talking loud and I didn't want Joe to hear you." Barry replies quietly as he stands in front of her. He felt incredibly small and nervous. He knew Iris was going to be upset. Upset enough to end their lifelong friendship. She would surely hate him after this. He was so afraid of losing her and he did.

Iris looked around though the place was familiar. "Why did you bring me, us here?" She questioned mildly harshly.

Barry looked around as well. "It's kind of our spot." He says and shrugs awkwardly.

"Really? This is kind of our spot? You're right. This is our spot. Mine and The Flash's." Iris says sarcastically.

"We've had some interesting times here, don't you think?" Barry asks and smiles rather nervously. He was trying to give Iris time to calm down, but he sees that's no use.

"Yeah, we have. Me and The Flash that is. All those clandestine meetings with him, and it's you. I don't believe this."

"I'm sorry that I'm The Flash, Iris." Barry apologizes sincerely.

Iris looked at Barry like he was crazy. "That's all you have to say for yourself? You're sorry that you're The Flash? How are you The Flash, Barry? How are you The Flash and didn't tell me? You tell me everything, Mr. Blabbermouth. But you didn't tell me this?!" Iris says with her ire rising with each word. She looked at Barry and the hurt and sad look on his face. He looked like a wounded puppy. "Explain yourself!" She yelled and startled him with her outburst. "Explain to me how the person I thought I knew better than anyone, has been keeping secrets from me? Big life changing secrets. You were supposed to be my best friend, Barry!" Iris says through tears.

"I am your best friend!" Barry offers as a rebuttal.

"How can you say that when the most important things in your life, the things that matter most, the things that you are supposed to share, you kept all of them from me. You lied to me about everything." Iris says as her voice starts to shake. She couldn't believe this was actually happening.

Barry just stands there stunned and takes her outburst. He understood it and accepted it. He had been a terrible friend to Iris, though he never meant to be. He was trying to honor his promise to Joe and keep her safe. He was wrong in doing that. He knows and sees that now.

"Iris, I'm sorry..." Barry begins. He knows he has some explaining to do. He just can't find the words.

"Stop saying you're sorry!" She exclaimed.

"I really am sorry, Iris. You've gotta believe that." Barry says, short of pleading. He knows she just told him to stop saying he's sorry, but he can't help but apologize.

"Yeah, I do. I'm waiting." Iris says as she folds her arms across her chest.

"Uh...well as you can see, I'm The Flash." He states nervously and he wrings his hands and starts to pace.

"Yes, I can see that. We've already covered that part." Iris states bitterly. "How?"

"When I got struck by lightning. I woke up from the coma and I felt weird. I noticed it the day I came to see you at Jitters after I first woke up. Things seemed really strange. It's like time stopped a little around me. Things seemed to be moving in slow motion, but it was just me moving fast, I guess. I saw your coworker drop a tray and it just seemed weird. When I left, I noticed my hand was moving fast and I started to speed up and slow down. I ran back to S.T.A.R. labs because I thought I was either dying or having a seizure. We discovered I had this super speed and that's it. Dr. Wells helped me understand what was going on with me better. So here we are." He says and smiles awkwardly.

"So, you just became The Flash? You just decided to become a superhero?" Iris wonders.

"Yes, i guess. I didn't just decide to become a superhero. I knew I had to do good things with my new found powers." Barry admits truthfully.

"Where did you get the suit?" Iris wonders.

"Cisco made it." Barry answers and felt a little warm inside at her mentioning the suit. She did just say she fantasized about him and the suit. Without realizing it, he smiled.

"What are you smiling about? That I said I had fantasies about The Flash, you in the suit?! I'm angry with you Bartholomew Allen!" Iris practically yelled.

"I know you are. And you have every right to be." Barry says calmly.

"Why didn't you tell me? You tell me everything! I don't even know you! You were supposed to be my best friend, Barry!" Iris yelled again. She felt like reminding him that best friends don't do what he did to each other.

Barry walked towards her. "I am your best friend. And you're mine. I wanted to tell you. There were so many times that I wanted to tell you, but Joe wanted-" He says before he's interrupted.

"My father knows?! And he didn't tell me either?! He told you to keep it from me? How can the two men I love the most and are the most important people in the world to me decide to keep something like this from me?! How could you two do that to me? We're supposed to be family! I don't believe this!" She yelled, her anger really started to feel like pain. Them keeping this from her is really causing her pain.

"Joe just wanted to keep you safe. Please don't be mad at him. Be mad at me. I'm an adult. I didn't have to listen to Joe. I could have told you. I owed it to you to tell you. So please don't be mad at your Dad. Be mad at me." Barry states profusely.

"Fine. I'm mad at you. Is that what you want?" Iris asks.

"No, I don't want you to be mad at me. But I understand why you're mad." Barry states quietly.

"That's the thing. I'm not mad. I'm disappointed. I never thought that you. You, my Bear and my best friend would keep something this big from me. Maybe I don't mean to you as much as you mean to me." Iris says and wipes a tear away.

Barry looked at Iris in shock. He walked closer to her. He put his hands on her arms. He felt really bad when she flinched at his touch at first. He then reached up and took his thumb and wiped her tears away anyway. He started to rub her arms and it felt really great touching her. "Iris, that's not true. Nowhere near true. You mean more to me than anything, anyone. I wanted to tell you. I really did. You were the first person I wanted to tell. Then Joe found out and made me promise not to tell you. I felt like I owed it to him to keep it a secret. I owe him my life. He took me in and treated me like I'm his son and I'm not. Then there's you that I grew up with and love and tell everything to and it started to get to me. Then you started writing that blog and I didn't want you to get hurt by somebody that wanted to hurt me. I really, really wanted to tell you. You started writing about me and believed in me and that made things really complicated." He states softly as he continued to rub her arms.

"Yeah, things got really complicated. I watched you die Barry. Then you came back and kept this huge secret from me and changed our relationship and friendship forever. I still don't understand how you could do that." Iris says and another tear falls. "Take me home." She says softly.

"Iris...I'm sorry." Barry says again.

"Just take me home." She says. Barry doesn't say another word and just grabs her into his arms and takes off. He's back at Joe's house in seconds. They stop in the middle of the living room. Iris gained her composure at being ran at super speed before sitting down. She let out a sigh and looked up at Barry who looked ridiuculously out of place. He looked as bad as she felt. He was still her best friend in the world. He was still her Bear. She locked eyes with him and patted the seat next to her.

"You don't want me to leave?" Barry questions in awe.

"No, I don't want you to leave. I'm not mad at you, Bear. I'm hurt, but I'm not mad at you."

"I'm sorry for hurting you, Flower. I really am. I'm sorry, I forgot you don't want me to call you that." He says as he goes to sit down next to her.

"I'm still your Flower, Bear. I know you wouldn't intentionally do anything to hurt me. I know that. I get it but I don't get it." She says and tries to smile. They sat in an awkward silence for several minutes, though it seemed like hours to both of them. Iris thought about a lot of things while they sat in silence. "So that's why you suddenly have abs and muscles." Iris says seemingly out of nowhere.

Barry looked over at her. "Yeah, I guess. I was just as shocked as you are. It was weird discovering that I had abs. On top of super powers."

"So lightning really did you give abs." She states absently. Iris was suddenly starting to feel weird. Hot, awkward, weird and embarrassed. She needed to put some space between her and Barry. She stood up. "I'll be back." Iris says absently. She looked at Barry. "Don't leave." She says and just walks up the stairs to her room thinking the entire way.

Barry watched her leave sadly. He knew she was upset and hurt and it's all his fault. He wanted to leave, but Iris asked him not to. He felt so awkward and on display. But it felt great to get it out. She needed to know he loved her and that he's the scarlet speedster.

Iris shook her head as she walked up the stairs. She just confessed to The Flash that she has a crush on The Flash. On top of putting both feet in her mouth, she made it known that she thought Barry was hot. Bear became hot. It was actually Bear in that red suit. Barry's now a superhero. That she has a crush on. That's her best friend. That just told her he loved her. That he's loved her and always has. She was so shocked about finding out he's The Flash that she forgot all about his confession. She needed to address that before she made Barry feel worse. Even though she felt bad, she didn't intend to hurt his feelings. She already loved him. Not necessarily romanctic love, but she did love him. She thought he was cute and adorable, and now hot. She's a little glad that she started thinking he's hot before she found out he's The Flash and the guy she has a crush on. Now she has a crush on Barry, but she didn't know she had a crush on Barry. But she does. And he loves her. This was a mess. A beautiful mess, but still a mess.

She sat on her bed and just thought. Just thought about her history with Barry. Everything they've been through. They both lost their mothers and bonded over that. Barry was her best friend that was an amazing guy. She and her father were pretty miserable in the house alone. Barry came along and changed all of that. Even when he had the worst thing possible happen to him, he still managed to brighten her life. He totally changed the dynamic in the house. At first he was upset with Joe for putting his father in jail. He kept running away to visit his Dad. Then he really started to see how much Joe and Iris cared for him and stopped doing that. He started to embrace his new life with the West's. His new family. With his best friend and the girl he loved.

Iris just thought about all of that. How special Barry was to her. Her Bear. She had never even thought about her and Barry being more than friends. But it made sense. She loved Barry. He loved her. She knew he waould always be there for her. She'd be lucky to have a guy like Barry. He told her that the friend she was trying to help was a lucky guy. He was talking about himself. She realized he'd make the perfect husband. She felt a shock to her system when she thought that. Barry as her husband? Really? Then she thought about that earlier converstaion she had with Barry about her name changing to Iris West Allen. He was trying to drop hints. He was trying to tell her that he loved her. She was too blind to see it. She smiled to herself at his antics. Barry was great. Even though he hurt her by not telling her the truth about being The Flash. She understood why he didn't tell her. She really did. She stood up to go back downstairs. She watched him turn towards the stairs when he heard her walking down. He gave her an awkward smile. He looked like he was in pain. She walked up to him and sat down next to him. Another awkward silence settled between them.

They both started thinking of all their meetings between them with him in his disguise. Those moments in Jitters. Those moments on the roof above Jitters.

The roof.

The roof was their spot. It would always be special to her from this moment on.

They really did have some memorable times on that roof. She remembered him flirting with her in Jitters. The time he smiled at her when she saw him the first time. The time he winked at her when he gave her a head start to the roof. It was Barry all those times. Barry flirted with her all those times. Barry smiled at her. He winked at her. He had on a mask, but it was him. The mask must have given him the courage to say to her what he couldn't. That excited something in her. He liked her. She liked him too.

"So... about what you said." Iris starts.

Barry looked at her and felt his heart drop. "Iris, you don't have to let me down easy. I know you don't feel the same way. I won't hold that against you. I know I just double whammied you. Hopefully me loving you won't ruin everything. I guess I'll get over it eventually." He says as he looks at her.

"How do you know how I feel?" Iris asks quizzically.

"Because I know you better than anyone. I know that you don't love me like I love you. You love me like I'm your brother. I'm not, but you do." Barry says.

"Bear, you aren't my brother. In case you haven't noticed, we don't share the same DNA. Plus we have that I'm black and you're white thing going on. I doubt anyone will look at us and instantly think we're brother and sister." Iris says.

"But we grew up in the same house. I think of your dad as my father. I never thought of you as my sister though. I had a crush on you before I moved in here." Barry admits.

"Yeah, so about that." Iris says and looks at Barry. How did she miss all the clues? How did she miss the gold mine that was sitting in front of her? How could she have been so oblivious to his feelings for her? She thought and figured out how. Because she knows Barry well. Better than anyone. And he her. She figured he would tell her something like that. She wondered why he thought she wouldn't return his feelings.

"I get it Iris. I do. Nothing will change between us. I promise." Barry says. "We will always be best friends."

Iris decided to ignore the jargon he's talking. "Do you remember what I told you before you made your confession?" Iris wondered.

"Yeah. You told me you have a crush on The Flash." Barry says in a tone filled with sorrow.

"Yeah, I do. Did." Iris says to correct herself.

"Did? I guess you don't have a crush on him any more since you know that it's me." Barry again says in a sorrow filled tone.

"Bear, you're The Flash." She says.

"I know that." He says. "You have a crush on The Flash. Not me." Barry states and audibly swallows.

"Barry, you are The Flash." Iris repeats. "I have a crush on The Flash which means I have a crush on you. You're him. You have the same qualitites. I don't know why I didn't figure it out sooner. Despite you changing your voice and making your face vibrate so I didn't know who you were, you're still the same guy. Still the same guy that goes out of his way to help people. I should have known it was you. Maybe I didn't because of the things that happened between us. I never thought you would openly flirt with me. But you did. You hid behind the mask to do it, but you did." Iris says and looks at him.

"I had to. I knew you'd shut me down or even laugh if you knew it was me. It was much easier to talk to you when you didn't know that it was me."

"Why do you keep saying things like that?" Iris wonders. Him thinking she would reject him was starting to aggravate her. He's acting like she's too good for him and that's just not true. Actually, it saddened her to know that's what he thought. She would have hated to reject him and hurt his feelings if she didn't have feelings for him too, but she does. She has for awhile now. She just chalked it up to how close she and Barry were all those years. They had the greatest relationship and friendship.

"Things like what?" He asks.

"Things like you know I don't feel the same way, that I'll shoot you down, laugh at you and reject you?" Iris inquires.

"I just assumed." Barry says and then looks at her. "I just assumed you wouldn't feel the same way." He says sadly.

"Why wouldn't I feel the same way? Don't you know how amazing you are?" Iris asks in wonderment.

Barry smiled. "You have told me that from time to time."

"I've told you that because it's true. You're an amazing guy, Bear. You haven't been my best friend all these years by accident. You're the most adorable nerd I know. Now you're the hottest nerd I know. Actually you're the hottest guy I know period." Iris says and smiles at him.

"What about Detective Pretty Boy?" Barry asks.

"What about him?" Iris questions. "I may have said yes to him asking me out, but I don't have feelings for him. He's pretty, yes. I won't deny that."

Barry cringed at hearing that and Iris notices. "Thanks." He says sarcastically.

"What's with the snarky attitude all of a sudden?" Iris asks Barry.

"I do not have a snarky attitude, Flower." Barry lies.

"Great. Because you shouldn't." She says before she stuns Barry by leaning over and grabbing his face and started to kiss him. At first it felt weird to kiss Barry. Then it wasn't weird any more. She was getting into actually kissing Barry on the mouth when he started to vibrate. Iris pulled back from him. "Whoa!"

Barry immediately starts apologizing. "I'm sorry about that. I guess I got a little excited." He says and is still excited and on top of the world at Iris kissing him. He imagined that so many times. It was better than he imagined. Then he had to mess it up by getting too excited and vibrating. It's a good thing she knows he's The Flash because that would really make things awkward and weird. How would he explain that?

Iris stared into his eyes. "Does this feel weird to you?" She asks.

"No, not weird. It feels strange to kiss you, but not weird. I've wanted to kiss you forever." Barry confesses. "Does this feel weird to you?" He reluctantly asked.

"It did at first. But not any more." Iris says and pulls his face to hers to kiss him again. Barry started to vibrate again. Iris felt it in her lips. She wondered what else vibrated. She slid closer to him and deepened the kiss. Suddenly Joe walked down the stairs. Barry and Iris broke apart like they were kids being caught.

Barry awkwardly ran his hand through his hair. Joe looked from Barry to Iris and back to Barry as he came to a full stop at the bottom of the stairs. He knows what they were doing, but he decides to tease them anyway. "What are you two doing?" Joe asks.

"Nothing." Iris and Barry say simultaneously.

"Nothing? That didn't look like nothing." Joe says as he looks back and forth between Iris and Barry.

"Nothing. Just watching a movie on Netflix and eating pizza and popcorn." Iris rambles on. Barry is too embarrassed and shocked to speak. "Do you want some pizza, Dad? I'll get it for you." Iris says and gets up quickly and takes the pizza with her.

Joe watched Iris and then looked at Barry try and fail miserably at looking normal. "What was that about?" He asks even though he knows. He saw them break apart. He's not naive in thinking that they were kissing. Though he has never caught Barry and Iris like that before, he knows what he saw.

"What? What was what about? Nothing. We were just watching a movie. Iris got a little scared and clung to me. That's all." Barry lies.

Joe looked at Barry and gave him the "You must think I'm stupid" look. Joe looked at the tv and was certain that the movie they were watching wasn't at all scary. "That's not a scary movie, Barry." He teases and watched Barry turn a deep shade of red.

"What? I..." He says and can't even come up with another lie.

"Do I have to go Floyd Mayweather on you, Barry?" Joe taunts.

"No. Not at all Joe." Barry says and smiles awkwardly again.

Joe then starts to laugh heartily. "I'm just kidding Barry. I caught you red handed. I saw you break apart. But you'd both better be fully dressed if I come back down these stairs." He says right as Iris comes from the kitchen.

"Here you go, Dad. I warmed it up for you." Iris says and smiles. "I even grabbed you something to drink." She needed her father to disappear immediately.

"Thanks." Joe says as he takes his pizza and drink from Iris. "Enjoy the rest of your scary movie." He says as he heads back for the stairs. "Remember what I said, Barry." Joe adds as he walks up the staris without stopping.

"He knows, doesn't he?" Iris asks once she thinks Joe is out of earshot.

"Knows what?" Barry asks.

"That we were kissing."

"He said he saw us break apart, but didn't say he saw anything. And he said we'd both better be fully dressed if he comes back down the stairs. Plus he said he'd go Floyd Mayweather on me."

Iris looked at Barry and started to feel warm on the inside. "He's not gonna go Floyd Mayweather on you, Bear." She grabbed his hand. She felt a minor jolt when she touched him. "Come on. Let's go upstairs."

"What?" Barry asks in confusion.

"Let's go upstairs to my room. We shouldn't be out in the open like this anyway." Iris says.

"What?" Barry asks again in confusion. Is she suggesting...? Barry wondered.

"I said we need to go up to my room so that we won't be out in the open and my Dad catches us."

"Why would we need to go upstairs though, Flower? To your room? For what?" Barry asks in a nervous tone.

"Barry, for someone as smart as you are, you're acting pretty stupid right now." Iris says as she squeezed his hand and pulls him toward the steps.

Barry just follows her without a word. He was nervous, excited and scared. He didn't understand Iris wanting to go up to her room with him. Not that he didn't want to, it was just unexpected. Just like Iris kissing him. He was never expecting that to happen. He thought she was going to reject him. Tell him she only saw him as a friend, or even worse as her brother. He was wondering how they would continue on being best friends when he loved her so much. He never wanted to lose her, so he'd sacrifice his feelings for their friendship.

Once they were in her room, Barry looked around. It had been so long since he had been in Iris' bedroom. It looked differently than he remembered. Instead of it being girly, it had a nice womanly touch and feel to it. "It looks different, I know. It's been a long time since you've been in here." She says and smiles at him. She went to sit down on the side of the bed and left Barry standing awkwardly in the middle of the room.

"Yeah, it's been a long time. I haven't been in here since I moved out. I like what you've done to it." Barry says as he tries to keep his nervousness under control. That's a hard thing for him to do. He's in Iris' bedroom. They just kissed. She knows how he feels and that he's The Flash. He had no idea what was about to happen. If something was about to happen.

Iris looked up at Barry, her Bear. He was really looking hot to her. He really was in that S.T.A.R. labs tee shirt he was wearing. With his abs and biceps under it. She had a crush on his alter ego. His sexy alter ego. She was about to ask him do something really weird like going to get The Flash suit, but she didn't want to make Barry feel like she only liked him because of that. That wasn't the truth at all. She has loved this man as long as she could remember. He was her best friend. They grew up together and lived together. They already knew they could live together and get along. He's seen her at her worst and she his. He has seen her wrap her hair up at night. Barry was her best friend. She started thinking that he was probably her soul mate. There's no probably in it. He is her soul mate. That made her happy. You should get with your best friend and soul mate.

She did like she did earlier and patted the seat on the bed beside her. "Come and sit down, Bear." She started to get a little nervous. Things were really about to change between her and Barry. She hoped he was nervous too. She didn't want to be alone in that.

Barry was nervous and anxious at Iris, his Flower wanting him to come and sit on the bed next to her. He wished that she was as nervous as he felt. She didn't seem to be. He hoped that neither one of them regretted the status quo. "Ok." He says and takes his seat. Iris scooted her body closer to his. She placed her hand on his thigh. It felt surprisingly strong. She guessed it was from all the running he was doing. Barry instinctively placed his hand on top of hers.

Iris looked over at Barry and smiled. She intertwined their fingers. "Where do we go from here, Bear?" She wondered.

"Where do you want to go?" He asked nervously.

Iris ignored his question. "You said you loved me."

"I do." Barry replies. "I always have."

"You do know that I love you too, right?" Iris asks as she smiles at him.

"Yes, I know that." Barry replies and smiles back at her.

Iris let out a small sigh. "I'm just wondering how I didn't know that you loved me as more than your best friend. Did anybody else know?"

Barry chuckled at the irony. "Yeah. Apparantly everyone knew I was in love with you but you. I honestly didn't think it was that obvious. Joe said he watched me be in love with you as soon as I knew what love was." He replies.

"So my Dad knew? Why didn't he say anything?" Iris asks.

"He felt like I should tell you myself. I already told you why I didn't."

"Then that means he approves." Iris says happily.

"I guess he does." Barry says just as happily.

She thought about their earlier conversation. "I now know what you were trying to tell me earlier."

Barry looks at her in confusion. "What was I trying to tell you earlier?" He asks though he has an idea.

"About me marrying a man with the last name Allen. You were talking about yourself." Iris states surely.

Barry let Iris' hand go and leaned forward. He grabbed both sides of her face before he pressed his lips to hers. He wanted that to be his answer. He was still nervous, but it was starting to dissipate. He was kissing the woman he loved. He didn't have time to be nervous. Besides, this might be a dream and he wanted to enjoy it. He deepened the kiss that was somehow better than the kisses they had downstairs. Of all the times he dreamed of kissing Iris, it was nothing like this. He really tried to savor every moment he had with her because he truly was starting to feel like he was dreaming. He had to be. This has to be a dream, right? Barry thought. Iris was reciprocating his feelings. She took finding out he's The Flash surprisingly well. This is a dream. It has to be. Barry thought to himself was undoubtedly the best dream he had ever had. He again got as excited as before. Even more so. He got aroused like he did when he hugged Iris a few hours ago.

Iris felt Barry nibbling on her top lip and she started thinking how nice and surprising it was that Barry was such a good kisser. She could have been kissing Barry years ago. She reluctantly broke the kiss. She gave Barry a quick peck to his lips. "Yeah, this totally doesn't feel weird at all. I could get used to this." She says breathlessly.

Barry smiled at her, "I agree. You have no idea how good it feels to finally kiss you. It feels so good that this can't be real." Barry says a little sadly.

"Bear, this is real. Unless we're both dreaming. Did we fall asleep watching the movie?" Iris asks as she smiles at Barry.

"I don't think so. But this really has to be a dream. It's going too well to not be a dream." Barry says.

Iris laughed at Barry's antics. "This isn't a dream, Bear." She says as she stands and goes to lay in her bed. Barry's eyes instinctively followed her. He wondered what she was doing. Iris settled comfortably up near her many pillows and just watched Barry for a moment. Am I really about to do this? With Bear? Iris asked herself. She thought of a different approach and got back out of her bed. She walked back to the side of the bed where Barry was still frozen in place it seemed. She smiled down at him and just pushed his shoulders back until his body connected with her bed. She climbed on top of him and straddled his waist. She could feel that he was already erect. That kind of turned her on. She wondered how soon it would be inside of her. She could tell that her actions surprised him. She grabbed his face and pressed her lips to his. She really could get used to kissing Barry. The Flash.

Barry reached up and started to rub Iris' back. He couldn't believe she was on top of him kissing him. He then rubbed her ass. He wanted to slip his hand down her pants, but thought he'd be pushing it. She really shocked him when she sat up and took her pajama top off. His eyes nearly popped out of his head at the sight of her naked breasts in front of him. "Oh my god, Iris." He says almost in disbelief. She smiled down at him. She leaned back down and started to kiss him again. The combination of kissing Iris, having her straddling his waist, and her being topless was too much for him. Before he had any control over his actions, he came right then and there. He made an inaudible sound. Iris stopped kissing him and just looked at him.

"Really, Bear?" Iris teased.

Though he was extremely embarrassed, it felt good to have that release. "I'm sorry, I really couldn't help myself." Barry says as an apology. "But you're topless, on top of me, and kissing me."

Iris giggled to ease his tinge of embarassment. "It's ok, Bear. I won't hold it against you." She kissed his forehead and in that instance, he felt incredibly loved.

"You are so beautiful." He says as he leans up to kiss her collar bone."I can't believe this is happening."

"It's happening." Iris says almost playfully.

Barry got a little confused. He needed clarification on what was happening. "Really?" He asked.

Iris giggled seductively. "Yes, really."

"You don't think this is too fast?" Barry asked even though he didn't want her to say yes.

Iris stared into his eyes and thought for a moment. "No, this isn't too fast. We've been best friends forever. I've known you longer than any other guy I could possibly get with. This is supposed to happen." She says and grabs his face to kiss him again. "We have a lot of time to make up for. We could've been doing this years ago, had you told me how you felt."

"I really didn't think you'd feel the same way. I was afraid it would change everything." Barry admits.

"It will change everything. That's not a bad thing. We can never be just best friends after this." Iris counters.

Barry thought for a moment. "Growing up together and knowing so much about each other...made it hard for me to admit the way I felt about you."

"I can understand that. This is still kind of hard for me to believe. But you aren't alone in your feelings, Bear. I'm already falling in love with you too." Iris confesses.

Barry gets confidence from somewhere as he grabs Iris and made his way to the top of her bed. Gone was his nervousness and awkwardness. He laid Iris on her back and leaned forward to kiss her. He went for her neck and then headed for her breasts. He still couldn't believe that Iris was topless in front of him. He was actually kissing her breasts. He started to get excited thinking that they would actually have sex. He got aroused again just thinking about it. Iris moaned when he took her nipple into his mouth. He started to worry about Joe hearing them even if they were adults.

He couldn't find the strength to stop even if he wanted to. He wanted to see more of Iris' naked body. "Can I take these off?" He asks as he locked eyes with her. Iris just smiled and nodded her head. Barry's heart rate started to pick up as he got on his knees. He leaned forward and gave Iris another kiss before he lightly pulled off her pajama bottoms. She was just in her panties and he wondered if he should remove those as well. She silently communicated with him and gave him clearance to take them off.

Iris got butterflies in her stomach at the thought of being completely naked in front of Barry. She has never been naked in front of him before. Never. They never had any mishaps growing up in the same house together. The most naked she has ever seen Barry is in his boxers and swimming trunks. Now he was about to see her completely naked. He was about to see her vagina. She suddenly wondered how many he has seen. She knew he wasn't a virgin though he wasn't the type to sleep around. She was the same way. It didn't matter anyway.

Now she wanted to see him naked as well. Really see how much his body changed since getting super powers. She thought about his vibrating abilities. He could vibrate his face and voice. Could he vibrate other things as well? She started to get a little excited and aroused herself thinking about it. It went to the back of her mind when she felt Barry lightly grasp the hem of her panties. She noticed that his hands shook a little as he started to slide them down.

Barry got nervous again thinking that it was actually happening. He was seeing his dream girl naked. He was touching her and it wasn't a dream or fantasy.

He was possibly about to have sex with Iris. He didn't want to blow it. He didn't want to disappoint her. He'd probably never get the chance again.

Barry slowly finished removing her panties. He saw almost everything she had as she moved her legs to help him.

Iris was naked.

Iris was naked in front of him.

He took in her naked form all at once, and then in parts. She was more beautiful than he imagined. He felt like telling her that.

"You are so beautiful, Iris. You're more beautiful than I imagined." Barry says. He honestly felt like he'd do something really weird and wimpy like crying. All his dreams were coming true.

Iris blushed. The awkwardness was gone. She wanted this. She really did. She wanted Barry to get naked too. "Thank you, Bear." Iris leaned up to kiss him and fumbled with the S.T.A.R. labs tee shirt he was wearing. He stopped kissing her to fully take it off. He started to kiss her over her entire body. He wanted to worship it and her. He might not ever get that chance again. He hoped so, but the future is a mystery to him. And this is something he has always wanted in his past and now present. He wanted a future with Iris. He really did want to make her last name Allen.

He kissed everywhere his lips could reach. Her neck, her shoulders, collar bone and chest. He kissed her breasts slowly. He teased her nipples and areola with his tongue. He nibbled on her erect nipples and lightly sucked on them. Iris moaned and her leg twitched. It felt really good to her.

Barry released her nipple from his mouth and looked at her. "Is this weird to you, Iris?" He reluctantly asked, praying that she said no.

"No, it's not weird at all. I was worried it would be, but it's not. Why? Do you want to stop? Does this feel weird to you?"

"God, no. I just wanted to make sure you were ok. Making sure you still want this. Want to do this with me."

"Barry, yes I still want to do this. I think you're wasting too much time worrying about nothing. I know it seems like we're going from 0 to 100 in 10 seconds flat, but you are The Flash." Iris jokes and kisses him. "Now, use your super speed and get naked too."

Barry didn't need to be told twice. He was out of the bed and his sweats and boxers, then back in the bed in the blink of an eye. He pressed his nude body close to Iris. He went back to his mission of kissing her entire body. He kissed her abdomen and teased her belly button with his tongue. He kissed down her thighs, to her calves. He even kissed her ankles and her feet. He kissed back up her body and focused on her neck.

He didn't know how it was possible, but he became more aroused. Kissing her entire body was extremely erotic to him. He grabbed Iris' face and kissed her deeply. Each kiss seemed better than the last. He hoped it was the right thing to do when he took his hand and placed them between her legs.

He felt how warm and wet she was and it turned him on more. He slipped his long, strong fingers between her lips and stroked her. Iris let a moan escape her lips at him touching her there.

Barry stopped kissing her and stared into her beautiful face. "Is this ok?" He asked. He didn't want to go too far if that isn't what she wanted.

"Of course it's ok. You don't even have to ask. Well, maybe you should since I'm still mad at you." Iris lightly joked. She wasn't mad at him at all. She was still a little hurt that he kept that from her, but she understands why he did. That was a huge secret to keep from her, but she wouldn't let that ruin the large amount of history that they have. Her Bear would always be a part of her life. He was now a different part of her life and she really wondered where and how far they would go.

Barry felt a little pull to his heartstrings when Iris said that. "Iris, I'm really sorry that I kept those secrets from you. I will never keep another secret from you again. Hopefully, you'll let me make it up to you and learn to trust me again." He says sincerely while staring into her eyes.

"I trust you, Bear. You should already know that. You are kinda my guardian angel. You've been looking out for me even when I didn't realize it was you. I will let you make it up to me, somehow." Iris says. She's still fully aware of his fingers being inside of her. If felt too good for him to move them. She never in a million years thought she and Barry would be naked in a bed. Naked in the bed with Barry and about to have sex with him. Doing things that best friends don't usually do. He had his fingers inside of her. That would totally change their friendship.

"Of course I'm going to look out for you. I have to. It's harder and easier now. But now that you know who and what I am, you can be more careful and on the lookout. I know you can hold your own. You did knock out Tony, didn't you?" He says to lighten the load so that they could finally get off that topic. He was ready to do other things. Like talk with their bodies and things. He has waited forever for this, and now he's anxious. Iris still had time to change her mind.

Iris was at the point of no return. "Just shut up and kiss me, Bear." She says.

Barry smiled and leaned down to press his lips to hers. It felt electric for some reason this time kissing her. Maybe because he was touching her. Maybe because she really gave him the go ahead to do as he pleased. He deepened the kiss that sent shock waves through him and her. He had been struck by lightning, but it didn't feel like this.

He increased his movements of his fingers while they were inside of her. She seemed to get wetter and that made him harder. Iris reached down and grabbed his penis. He let out a gasp at her grabbing his penis. They were in unchartered territory. He hoped that he wouldn't embarrass himself like he did earlier and cum out of the blue. She was just kissing him and straddling his waist then. Now she actually had his penis in her hand.

Iris started to stroke him and really felt him get bigger in her hand. She still couldn't believe that Barry had his fingers inside her and she had his penis in her hand. It felt good though. It was no longer weird. The newness of it all was a little weird, but not full on awkward like your first time hooking up with someone usually is.

Seemingly out of nowhere, Barry started to vibrate his hand. He was taking full advantage of his new abilities He hoped Iris liked what he was about to do to her. His hand started to move at rapid speed. Iris let out a gasp and moan at his thumb vibrating on her clitoris. She felt her body jerk and she moaned louder. "Ah, Bear." Iris panted out. She had to let his penis go and placed her hands down at her sides. She turned her face towards Barry and buried her mouth into his neck. She lightly bit him and thought she was definitely going to give him a hickey. She felt like she was marking her territory, whatever that meant. She didn't even know if Barry was hers to mark. She had no idea what they were now, yet they were naked in her bed.

Iris moaned louder and it set off a little bit of panic in Barry. He didn't want Joe to hear. Yeah they were both adults, but he's still skating on this ice. He has his fingers in Joe's daughter. He could break the door down. He thought about Joe saying he would go Floyd Mayweather on him. "Sssshhhhhhh! Iris." Barry whispered. "Do you want your Dad to hear us and kill me?" He asked even though what they were doing and the thrill of being caught doing what they're doing seemed to turn him on. They were making up for lost time like Iris said. He thought of the many times they could have been doing this when they were younger.

"Sorry, Bear. But...it feels so..." Iris moaned again as her body jerked harder. Barry took his mouth and placed it on hers to sort of muffle her moans. Her moaning was really turning him on. His vibrating fingers was really doing something to Iris. She didn't feel like she could hold on any more. Her body went rigid and she sort of collapsed on the bed. She gave Barry another kiss and smiled up at him. "That was amazing, Bear."

"I'm glad you think so. But there's more where that came from. Do you think you can be quiet this time?" He teases as he looks at the look of pure ecstacy washed over her already glowing and gorgeous face.

"Yes. I guess so. Why?" She wonders.

Barry used his super powers and quickly moved to the bottom of the bed. He rested on his knees and stared up at Iris. He was really ready to go where he never has and forever change the dynamic of his and Iris' friendship. He wanted to be more than friends. He wanted to date her, really change her last name to Allen and have babies with her.

But right now he just wanted to use his new found super powers, mainly his ability to vibrate certain parts of his body, and go down on her until she couldn't stand it. He hoped she enjoyed it. He'd die trying.

"I want to show you something." Barry says eagerly. He was excited like it was Christmas.

"Ok." Is all Iris says.

"Good." He replied as he grabbed her thighs. He slowly parted her legs and almost cried at the sight of her naked vagina inches away from him. He had always already loved Iris inside and out. He knew he didn't even have to explain to anyone why he loved her. She was his best friend and the love of his life. How could he not love her? He'd be a fool not to. He wasn't lying when he told her he was a lucky guy.

She looked down at him. "Bear, are we about to...?" Iris asks. She was a little bit ready to go there with Barry. They had went through a lot that night. Their sleepover would always, always be special to her. It took missing Barry, noticing him in a different light, him confessing his love and revealing that he's The Flash to get them here. She wished it had happened sooner.

Barry hesitates, thinking Iris is unsure. "Do you want to...?"

"Yes."

"Ok. But first things first." Barry says and pulls Iris' legs apart further. He quickly dove his head between her legs and put his mouth on her. He started with her clitoris. He paid special attention to the sensitive nub.

"Barry..." She felt him move his tongue around it a bit before he started to suck on it. Iris had a million thoughts running through her mind at once. She couldn't believe he was eating her out. Her best friend was eating her out and he was good at it. She felt him suck on her clitoris more and then she felt the vibrations. It literally felt like she was masturbating with one. But this felt better. Barry was completely devouring her and she was loving it. She was really loving it. She continued to feel his tongue on her clit and then what must have been his thumb went inside of her and moved it around. She felt more vibrating and cried out in ecstasy. She forgot all about being quiet because of her father. "Oh my...Bear!"

He was licking and sucking on her clit and digging in her with his vibrating thumb until Iris felt like she couldn't be quiet anymore and clamped her hands down over her mouth. She felt like it was too much for her. Barry was too much for her. It was hard to believe that Barry was that good at that and too much for her. He sucked a little harder on her clit and Iris seriously lost it. She felt her legs go stiff and had the orgasm of a lifetime. She felt like she was floating and in a state of pure bliss.

"Oh my God, Barry. That was incramazing!" Iris says as she tries to catch her breath. She wondered how long it would take for her to return to normal.

"I'm glad you approve." Barry says as he crawled towards her. He wanted her immediately. He couldn't wait any longer to be inside of her.

Iris surprised him by pulling him close and pressing her lips to his. She stuck her tongue in his mouth and then started to suck on his. She could taste her self and she liked that. She now wanted to taste Barry. She deemed it only fair.

She pushed him onto his back and got on top of him. She gave him another kiss before crawling towards his waist. Barry's eyes grew huge at what was about to happen. He shook in anticipation. His legs started to vibrate.

"Calm down." Iris says. She doesn't say anything else as she grabs his penis. She looks up at him and smiles before she puts him into her mouth. The sudden wet contact of her mouth on him almost made his legs shake again. Barry closes his eyes briefly as he grabbed the sheets. He was completely satisfied and a little overwhelmed at the feel of her mouth wrapped around his penis. He couldn't believe it was happening. He hoped he lasted long enough to really enjoy it. "Iris, Iris, Iris." Barry moans. She takes him out of her mouth briefly as she licks along the length of his penis before returning to her previous actions by putting him back into her mouth. She releases him again as the semen shot out like a geyser.

It shocked both Iris and Barry. Iris just smiled and crawled towards him. "Is that a side effect of having super speed?" Iris teased as she climbed on his waist.

"This is my first time trying this part out." He says as he rubbed her back and leaned up to kiss her. They kissed deeply and passionately. They were both ready for the next step. "Ready?" He asks as he stares deep into her eyes.

She looked deep into his eyes to silently let him know that she was as ready as he was. He grabbed his penis and lined it up at her opening and put it inside of her. He almost lost it all at being inside of the woman he loved. He truly could have cried. "I love you, Iris." Barry says sincerely.

"I love you too, Barry." Iris says as she adjusted her body on top of his. She liked the way Barry felt inside of her. It felt good and right. It was supposed to happen.

The Flash somehow took over while Iris was riding him. He grabbed her ass and lightly smacked it before winking at her. He sat up and took one of her breasts into his mouth and sucked on her nipples as she rode him. Being inside of Iris felt so good to him he thought he would lose it. He had to hold off, because he had waited to be inside of her for as long as he could remember. It overwhelmed him and consumed him. He loved Iris more than he could describe. And now he was making love to her. He grabbed her by her waist and pulled her off of him before he laid her down gently on her back before he climbs on top of Iris and places a deep kiss to her lips. He continued to kiss her deeply as he placed his hands between her legs and played with her opening. He took the tip of his penis and stroked her clit and rubbed it along her labia before stopping at her opening. He slowly pushed himself into her where he just stayed before leaning down to kiss her. "I love you." He says again as he starts to thrust his hips into her. He moved inside of her gently before pounding into her a little harder. He maintained steady thrusts inside of her. It felt so good to be inside of her. Better than either of them thought it would feel.

"Barry…Barry…Bear…" Iris moaned because the sex was amazing. She wrapped her legs around his waist as he enters in and out of her. He slowly starts to grind into her as she wraps her arms around him and locks her fingers. He tongue kisses her deeply as he continues to pound in to her. Iris felt like she was going over the edge. She felt him speed up and the sensation was incredible. She was getting her third orgasm of the night. She had no idea Barry could make her feel like that. She felt loved and on top of the world.

Barry felt her juices flow and that excited something in him. He gave her a few more powerful thrusts and that sent him over the edge as well. He loved this woman and loved their experience. He'd never forget it as long as he lived.

"Iris…" Barry breathed out during the final throws of his mind blowing orgasm. He pulled out of Iris and laid beside her. He pulled her into his arms and kissed the top of her head.

"Barry..." Iris says breathlessly. She felt loved and comforted being in his arms. She got as close as she possibly could to him. She felt his penis on the back of her thigh and really wanted to do it again. "Can you believe we actually just did that?"

"No, I can't. I'm really glad that we did."

"So...I..." Iris says.

"Please don't say you're having regrets, Flower." Barry short of pleads with her.

"No, Bear. I have absolutely no regrets. I just wanted to do it again. Are you ready to do it again?" She wondered.

Barry instantly got hard again. "Of course I'm ready to do it again. I have super powers, remember?"

"Yes, I remember. Your super powers come in handy." Iris joked as she turned towards him and kissed him deeply. "I just thought of something. What if your super powers gives you like super sperm or something?" Iris asked quzzically.

"What do you mean, Iris?" Barry asks almost incredulously.

"I mean like somewhere down the line and in the future, after we get married, and I got pregnant with twins or something." Iris says then she smiled and cringed. "I'm sorry, i shouldn't have went there. It sounds weird even saying it." She lightly chuckled to remove how awkward she felt.

All Barry heard was her saying that they would get married. He'd have twenty kids with Iris. "It's not weird. i've thought about things like that in the back of my mind. I did mention your last name being Allen. You've gotta admit that Iris West Allen has a nice ring to it." Barry says.

"Yes, it does. What would we name them?" Iris joked.

"Who?" Barry asks.

"Our speedster twins."

"Dawn and Don." Barry says in a joking tone.

"Dawn and Don Allen. That's cute Bear." Iris exhaled because of how content she was. "Iris West Allen. I can dig it. But can we just settle on me being Iris West for now?" She asks.

"Sure, we can. Can you settle on being my girlfriend instead of just being my girl friend?" Barry asks.

"Absolutely." Iris says and then giggles. "My boyfriend is a superhero." She says animatedly.

"I am."

"Can my boyfriend make me a promise?" Iris asks.

"Anything." Barry says truthfully.

"Can we have sex on the roof? It's our special place." Iris says cheerfully.

Barry grinned and got really turned on at the thought. "We can. I'm ready to go again. I have a lot of stamina now, Flower." Barry says as he rolls Iris over on her front and grabs her hips. He pulled her ass closer to him. He entered her slowly. He started to make his penis vibrate inside of her.

"Oh...Bear..." Iris moaned.

\--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

The next morning, Barry awoke to Iris touching his face. Last night wasn't a dream. He thought to himself. He looked over at her and smiled. "Good morning." He says.

"Good morning." Iris replies and smiles.

"What are you doing?" Barry asks.

"I was just watching you sleep. Then I started tracing the moles and freckles on your face." She says as she continues to smile at him.

"Last night wasn't a dream." Barry says out loud this time.

Iris smiled and shook her head. "No. Last night wasn't a dream."

"I'm hungry. And just so you know I eat a lot now." Barry says

"I know that. I remember our movie night and all that Mongolian barbecue you ate. And then wanted more." Iris placed a kiss to his face and hopped out the bed. "I'll fix us breakfast after I shower. I would suggest we do it together, but we can't go that far yet."

Barry just admired her naked form as she walked over and grabbed her robe from the back of her door. "Ok. I'll go next."

Barry and Iris showered, dressed, and made their way down to the kitchen. They decided to cook breakfast together. Surely Joe was hungry too. They were so engrossed in each other, they didn't realize Joe was watching them. He watched the way Iris smiled widely at Barry. The subtle way they both managed to touch each other. He saw the lingering glances and the giggling. They were both in love now.

He loved seeing his kids that happy. He's glad that Barry finally told her how he felt. He knew Iris loved him too. He could see it all those years. He knows his kids. He imagined walking Iris down the aisle to Barry. Knowing Barry, he probably wouldn't even let him get Iris all the way down the aisle and meet them halfway. He laughed at the thought.

Barry and Iris heard him laugh and turned around startled. "Dad, hey. Good morning."

"Good morning, Joe." Barry adds.

"Good morning kids." Joe says happily.

"We're fixing breakfast. It'll be ready shortly." Iris says.

"Good." Joe says and goes to make himself some coffee. He watched them return to cooking. He had to have his last little bit of fun. "Oh, and kids?" Joe starts.

Barry and Iris turned towards him.

"I heard you two last night."


End file.
